SE Academic Review 2023

24 ST EDWARD’S, OXFORD

What can be done to treat Cardiovascular Heart Disease (CVD)? Treatments vary depending on the type of CVD. Some treatments target symptoms such as hypertension to reduce the risks of developing CVD. Doctors are also able to prescribe exercise as a treatment for some of the risk factors mentioned, such as obesity. This is having a positive impact on people at risk of developing CVD without the need for any medication. A simple lifestyle change can therefore treat some conditions to prevent CVD. There are several types of medication which can resolve symptoms related to cardiovascular diseases. Medication can help reduce hypertension (high blood pressure) and hypotension (low blood pressure) and can help reduce the chances of developing CVD. Stents are artificial materials which are used to widen arteries to treat CVD. When arteries narrow, doctors can insert a device which will inflate and increase the size of the artery. This Congenital Heart Disease (CHD) Congenital heart disease is a general term used to describe a range of heart defects a baby is born with. There is no real understanding of the causes of this type of CVD, however there are some factors known to increase the risk of a baby developing CHD. Congenital heart disease develops in the first six weeks of pregnancy, the time when the heart is developing. Some types of congenital heart defects can be linked with chromosome abnormalities, including a single gene defect. This type of heart disease can be influenced by environmental factors as well as some genetic factors. There are some maternal factors that can increase the risks of a baby developing a CHD. Some types of defect occur when the mother encounters harmful substances during early pregnancy such as taking depression medication, having diabetes without controlling blood sugar levels or even the mother having a connective tissue disorder. However, these factors I have mentioned are hard to identify and control meaning it is very hard to prevent this type of CVD from occurring.

can reduce symptoms and is often used as an emergency procedure for people suffering with a heart attack. A more serious surgery used for patients with CVD is open heart surgery. There are many different procedures that surgeons can do, however this is usually the last resort as it comes with a list of risk factors and a long recovery time (British Heart Foundation, 2019). Having researched the types of cardiovascular diseases there are some causes and risk factors that I believe are preventable, for example hypertension. This is a condition that is not very dangerous in the short term, however if left untreated it can be a common cause of CVD. Further on in my essay I will review the NHS plan which focuses on hypertension. In most cases, obesity could be reduced by a change in lifestyle and diet which could significantly reduce the chances of developing a CVD. However, one type of heart disease that can’t be directly prevented is congenital heart disease. Family history can have a massive impact on the risks of developing a CHD. About 1% of children are born with a congenital heart defect and there is an increased risk of three times for CHD to develop in someone if a first-degree relative has a CHD. Some heart defects have autosomal dominant inheritance, meaning a parent with a CHD has a 50% chance of having a child with CHD. Chromosomes are structures in the cells that contain genes, with the genes containing a genetic code. Humans usually have 46 chromosomes in each cell of the body and having too few or too many can lead to birth defects. There are about 70,000 genes on these 46 chromosomes in each cell in the body. Genes come in pairs, one inherited from the mother and the other from the father. Our genes give us our characteristics and if there is a slight mutation a health problem may occur. When more than one health problem occurs from one genetic mutation it is called a syndrome (University of Rochester Medical Center, 2018).